Star Trek TOS : The Z Effect
by TicTacToeUK
Summary: Kirk, an alternative universe and zombies...and that's just the first chapter! I hope you enjoy this continuing short story, let me know your comments. I of course don't own any of the characters mentioned in this story
1. Chapter 1

Captains Log Stardate 3951.5

On a routine return trip to Earth following the Babel Conference we have been knocked out of warp by an unknown force. The ship has sustained damage to the weapon systems, warp engines and the shields are down - I have instructed Lieutenant Commander Scott to initiate repairs...

"Sound red alert Mr Sulu"

"Aye Captain"

The alarms sounded all over the USS Enterprise but in amongst all of the noise and flashing warning lights the bridge crew worked without betraying the sense of urgency they all felt.

Kirk turned from the view screen, "Report Mr Spock".

Spock studied his instrument panel for a moment then replied "Initial scan is inconclusive captain, the entity is giving off fluctuating readings.

The captain turned back to the screen - ahead of them he could see a large translucent shape. It reminded him of a huge pulsating jelly fish.

"Best guess Mr. Spock ?" He implored.

"Captain, I hardly think this is an appropriate time for speculation..."

Kirk interrupted his first officer "now, Mr. Spock !"

Spock looked slightly stunned for a second, but he continued, "very well captain...the entity appears to be composed of an unknown gelatinous substance, generally round in shape and if I were to...guess.. it is approximately 1324.7 miles in diameter. It is also growing rapidly and heading toward us. Without warp engines we cannot outrun it, without weapons we cannot fire on it and at its current density and speed we will not survive the impact. It will engulf us in two and a half minutes."

Despite this information Kirk could not help but smile "1324.7 miles Mr. Spock?...next time...try to make your guess work more accurate. Options?"

Spock thought for a few seconds, "Well captain, my scan indicated there is a small hole in the object. With the careful use of impulse engines we should be able to align ourselves so that we pass through this area as the entity reaches us...but captain", Spock paused, "the stars beyond this hole do not appear to be in their correct positions"

"Something we'll have to worry about later Mr Spock. Mr Sulu plot a course for that hole!"

Sulu carefully looked at the readings given to him by Spock and then moved his hands quickly over the navigation controls as the rest of the crew felt the Enterprise lurch downwards, the Lieutenant continuing to make minor adjustments as the entity rapidly approached.

As the Enterprise started to pass through the hole Kirk notified the entire Enterprise crew to brace for impact, but instead everything seemed to momentarily shimmer and slow down.

"Good work Mr. Sulu" Kirk exclaimed as soon as they were through the gap, "Switch viewer to aft".

Through the rear viewer the gelatinous entity could been seen - the hole through which they had just come was shrinking. Kirk ordered the viewer to be switched forward, immediately they could see a blue and green planet ahead.

"Spock...is that..."

"Earth captain" finished Spock.

"But that's impossible!", The Captain exclaimed, "we were light years away !"

"Never the less", continued Spock, "that is Earth."

"Move us into orbit Mr Sulu. Uhura, contact star fleet command"

After a moment Uhura said with some distress "Captain, star fleet command is not responding on any frequency, and I am picking up some strange signals on an old broadcasting range. It is on an old 'radio' frequency, but I must have intercepted a story or something sir...", Uhura froze.

"What is it Lieutenant?" Kirk asked.

"Well sir...the broadcast keeps mentioning 'the undead'..."


	2. Chapter 2

Spock, who had be continuing to monitor his station looked up "Uhura is quite correct.

The star charts do not look exactly correct either, if you would like another guess, I would say the year is 1985. It appears by passing through the entity we have moved in both time and space. Possibly even through dimensions. Fascinating."

Everyone on the bridge turned to look at Spock, who went on, "we are currently in orbit above the old Earth city of Los Angeles. In this time period there should be a population of three million. I am only reading approximately fifty thousand human life signs however."

Kirk was stunned and rushed to check the instrumentation himself. At that moment, with a familiar swish, the bridge lift doors opened and Dr. McCoy entered the bridge.

"Jim!", he exclaimed, "have you done with shaking this ship? I've got patients down in sick bay!"

"Not now Bones", Kirk urged, "Spock, are there any concentrated pockets of people down there ?"

"Approximately one hundred are gathered in an organised commercial area, I believe such a place was called a 'shopping mall'"

"Good", replied the captain, "we've got to get down there and find out what's going on.", he hit the intercom switch, "Security team to the transporter room". To the bridge he said, "Spock, Bones, you're with me. Sulu, until Scotty has repairs under control, you have the con", and with that the three headed to the lift.

When they arrived in the transporter room Scott was waiting with three red shirted security men; after brief instructions they all took their place on the transporter pads.

"Energise" ordered Kirk.

Scott adjusted the transporter levers and after a moment all of them dematerialised.

Within a strong blue haze all six men appeared at the designated co-ordinates, which as predicted by Spock was a shopping mall - they were standing outside an electronics store, its window filled with over sized music players. Spock's highly developed ears could pick up a cassette player that had been left on inside the store '...if I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning...' the tune continued on. His eyebrow raised, "Fascinating", he said to himself. Although unaware of the music, McCoy looked with interest at the shop "Jim, have you seen this?", he said, but Kirk who had walked a couple of paces away from the rest of the group was pre-occupied with looking up and down the mall street. The enclosed street was quite a large area, with dozens of stores that he could see, everywhere was deserted apart from one man who was near an opposite store, he appeared to be chaining up a fire exit and had not seemed to notice their arrival.

Dr. McCoy moved over to Kirk "Where is everyone Jim ?...from what I remember of my history these places should be packed with people!"

"That's what I intend to find out - let's start with him" answered Kirk.

Still looking around, the landing party walked over to the man. When they had nearly reached him, Kirk noticed the strangers uniform and shouted over "Excuse me...are you...a policeman ?"

A surprisingly young man with dark hair turned around on hearing the voice, talking as he did so.

"Almost done, Hooker, they shouldn't be able to get through that...", the man paused when he had turned completely around, "Hooker, you look slightly different somehow, and why are you dressed...like that ?"

Kirk looked down at himself and then at his men, who were all equally puzzled. "Hooker ?", he said, "my name is Ca...Jim Kirk. Do you think you know me, officer...", Kirk looked at the policeman's name badge, "...Romano ?".


	3. Chapter 3

Romano surveyed the entire landing team, pausing especially to take in Spock's appearance.

"Hooker, I don't know who your new friends are, but we've got to continue our circuit - make sure those freaks can't get in"

Kirk looked around at his team, then back to the policeman "Why do keep calling me Hooker...and...who are 'the freaks'?"

Romano was already quickly moving away from the newly chained door however, so wanting some answers, the Enterprise crew followed a short distance behind. After a couple of minutes of taking in their surroundings and passing darkened shops they observed Romano, who had stopped at the next fire escape door. As the police officer was carefully checking that this entrance was still barricaded, Kirk picked up the front page of a newspaper that had been discarded on the floor.

The headline proclaimed "THE DEAD RISE".

"Have you seen this ?...", he said as he showed the paper to the rest of his group, "...and why did this... Romano think he knew me?"

"Captain", said Spock, "I believe I have a working theory"

"Go on" replied Kirk.

"Well, assuming we have entered a different dimension, logic dictates that it's entirely possible that we each have...dopplegangers...people that look identical to us, and yet are quite different"

On hearing this McCoy was the first to speak "You mean to tell me there could be another one of you running around here somewhere Spock - tell me it isn't so!"

"Quite so doctor", replied Spock, "and don't forget another one of you - a thought that equally fills me with dread"

"Ok you two, that's enough" interrupted Kirk, "let's just follow Romano... Find out what's going on, and in between all of this ...work out how to get back to our own universe"

All of the crew sped up to catch up to Romano, who was now jogging past a shut down escalator. As they were catching up, each of them took in the scene - posters in the store windows proclaiming 'huge savings', hanging banners from the ceiling advertising upcoming events; they also noticed that quite a few shops had their doors forced open - usually food outlets or outdoor goods stores.

"Romano", Kirk said as they finally caught up. "Where are all the people ?"

Romano turned to face him, with a look of concern in his eyes, "You haven't been bitten, have you Sarg?"

"Just humour me" said Kirk

Romano continued on towards another already bolted door "as per your instructions the majority of the survivors here are holed up in the EZ-Mart, but I dare say by now the search partys will be out searching the last few food outlets". Romano stopped at the door and tried to push it a couple of times.

"This ones secure, come on let's get back to the group - see if there's any news"

After a few minutes more walking the group entered a large store that was at the end of the mall street they had been moving down - A huge sign over the entranceway said 'EZ-Mart'. Kirk and his men followed Romano into the shop, which looked as though it had been thoroughly ransacked - shelves which used to be full of different products were now almost empty or the items that were left had been smashed or deemed useless. They appeared to be in a section of the store that once sold children's toys - Spock briefly picked up a brightly coloured car, inspected it, and returned it to the shelf. They continued on towards the back of the store where a large group of people were gathered around, Romano still leading the way. Several of the people looked on with quizzical expressions at the new arrivals.

At the middle of the gathering an older policeman was going through several sealed boxes, seemingly containing food.

"Oh my l-l-lord!", Stuttered Romano.

"What is it kid ?" said Sergeant TJ Hooker as he turned around...


	4. Chapter 4

Hooker stood up and approached Kirk and the others while everyone else looked on in astonishment. Both men studied each other - taking in each others features.

Kirk was the first to speak "You...look...just..."

"Like me" Hooker finished his sentence.

McCoy shouted "This is incredible Jim !"

"Are we related...friend ? A younger cousin perhaps ?", asked Hooker.

Kirk was just about to answer when the quiet was broken by a shout coming from the back of the store.

"ZOMBIES ! The Zombies are here!"

A thin middle aged man was running down the aisle towards the shellshocked group, "They've broken through the loading bay!", he continued.

Panic immediately broke out amongst most of the gathered group, but a few people picked up whatever weapons they had with them; some had guns, others had shovels or knives and there were those who had resorted to improvised weapons such as sharpened broom handles.

Hooker took charge. "This...", he motioned towards Kirk, "is going to have to wait. Romano and the rest of those of you with weapons - come with me".

TJ Hooker ran away from the Enterprise team, down another aisle in the store that had been stripped bare of products, weaving from side to side as he ran. At the end of the aisle he did a forward roll, drew his gun, checked both directions and then rounded the corner and disappeared out of sight. He was closely followed by Romano and the rest of the weapon carrying people.

Kirk said to his three security men "Thompson, Giles...you two, follow them. Ward...you're to wait here."

He turned to Spock as the two red shirts moved away, and was just about to speak when the noise from his communicator interrupted; he answered it.

"Kirk here"

"Scott here captain, I have an update for you"

"Make it quick Scotty"

"Aye captain, we've managed to get the weapons system back on line, and I recon we could just about get Warp One out of the old girl for a brief time"

"Good work Scotty" Kirk replied.

"But captain, there's something else... That thing...Sulu's been monitoring it, it seems as though the gap we passed through reappears from time to time, but for shorter periods each time. By our calculations at the present rate it will close forever in less than an hour"

"Ok Mr Scott, keep me informed, keep working on those repairs. Kirk out"

Kirk put his communicator back on his belt.

Spock looked at McCoy and then Kirk, "Captain, I would surmise that our chief engineer has found our way home - it is logical to assume that like any doorway, the hole we passed through can be traversed in both directions"

Kirk nodded, "That's good news Spock, but right now I want to know what's going on", he motioned for them all to follow in the direction that the rest had ran off in moments before.


	5. Chapter 5

They heard the screams and shouts before they even reached the back of the store, to the space that Hooker had described as the loading bay. Kirk and security man Ward entered first, followed by Spock and McCoy; all had their phasers drawn. The loading area was quite small, with a raised platform leading from the store that Hooker's group and the other two red shirts were standing on. This flat platform led down to a ramp, which in turn led to an outside road beyond some open gates. This was the first time Kirk had seen the sky since they had beamed down, but he had no time to gaze at the clouds as trying to get up the ramp were around two dozen grey skinned figures.

These figures were shambling slowly up the ramp towards the group - moaning with their arms raised as they approached, dirty clothes were hanging from their thin bodies. Several of the grey figures had already made it up the ramp and some of Hooker's group were fighting hand to hand with them.

Hooker and Romano were trying to form defensive lines with their people, firing only occasionally when the grey hoard got too close. Thompson and Giles, the two red shirted security men were also firing their phasers, set to stun mode at the approaching danger, however the beams were not stopping the figures.

Thompson turned to Kirk, "Captain, the phasers are having no effectarrrggghhh".

This last word Thompson only managed to speak before being attacked and overcome by two zombies, who were hungrily biting at Thompson's exposed skin.

Kirk shouted to his men "Set phasers to kill" and he shot at the two figures attacking his crew member; they immediately stopped moving and slumped to the floor.

Having changed their weapon settings, the remaining Enterprise landing party quickly managed to beat the grey skinned attackers back until none were left standing.

"Get those gates secured before more arrive!", shouted Hooker as he motioned towards some external gates that the undead had got though.

"On it Sarg" said Romano as he ran towards the gates.

McCoy bent over the fallen security man and examined him with his medical tricorder. After a moment he looked up at Kirk "He's dead Jim".

Kirk looked around; amongst the grey bodies some of Hookers group had also fallen, "Hooker!", he said, "I want some answers!"

"Get inside first", Hooker was still on alert, "Romano, take care of these bodies...you know what to do"

"I...don't understand" continued Kirk.

"Inside now, we don't have much time" reiterated Hooker as he motioned them all inside.

As they were nearing the internal door that led back into the EZ-Mart McCoy turned around

"Jim...look!", he shouted

Kirk and Spock looked to where the doctor was pointing; there, where he had fallen, the lifeless body of Security Officer Thompson was getting back to his feet.


	6. Chapter 6

Hooker managed to get most of the remaining group inside and he shut the door. From outside, where Romano and the thin man who had originally sounded the alarm were, the group inside could here the muffled sound of gun shots.

"What's going on here ?" repeated Kirk, "what's happened to Thompson?"

"I'm sorry...what did your friend call you earlier...Jim , was it?". Hooker had a serious look on his face. "I presume you are in charge of these people", he motioned at the remaining Enterprise crew, "...you're all dressed alike. Navy is it ?", he didn't stop for a response, "your man is dead...now"

"What? That's impossible...we saw him get up" countered Kirk.

"Where have you men been ? Once bitten, that's it. There's no way back. He was a zombie, friend"

"Zombie ?" was all Kirk could say.

Spock spoke up "Captain, in our universe a 'zombie' was a name for the reanimated dead. This of course was a myth...it was commonly used in several of your classic Earth movies and literature"

"Yes, I know Spock...but here it seems as though things are more real than myth..."

Romano and the other man came back through the door, bolting it after them.

"They are all taken care of Sarg" started Romano.

"Not now junior", interrupted Hooker, he looked at the thin man "York, go see if Officer Sherridan has returned yet with a scavenging party". When the man had walked away he turned back to Kirk and pointed at him, "'our universe' you said, what are you talking about? Are you aliens ? And give me the truth..."

Spock looked at Kirk with a raised eyebrow, and McCoy shrugged his shoulders and finally spoke. "You might as well tell him Jim"

Kirk looked around; most of the other survivors would not be able to hear what was said. Those that were in range looked as though they were far too worried about what had just happened to care. He sighed "ok Hooker, but I want the full story afterwards...". Kirk spent several minutes filling in the two policemen about how they had got there and the Enterprise's predicament, even though he suspected the story wouldn't be believed.

When he was finished Hooker pulled up a nearby stool, he sat down and rubbed his chin in thought. The man who he had called York reappeared "Sherridan hasn't got back yet, and there's been no answer on the walkie talkie".

Hooker looked up, a concerned look on his face but he simply nodded his head in acknowledgement; finally he spoke up "Well, I suppose your story explains those crazy ray guns you people have. You got any more of those by the way? We could take care of the crazies easily with those!"

Kirk smiled at his older lookalike's acceptance, "sorry, that would be violating our most important rule...now it's your turn...what's going on here?"

"You fellas may as well sit down, what I'm about to tell you is just as unbelievable as your story"

Kirk hadn't noticed earlier in the commotion, but the area they were in seemed to be a storage location - it was not like the rest of the store, with the walls covered from floor to ceiling with thick industrial shelves. Overhead, rusting pipes of various thicknesses could be seen. The men looked around for some chairs - there were several that had been left here; Spock came back with a folding deck chair with striped material which he proceeded to struggle to open initially, after several seconds he set the deck chair down and sat in it.

McCoy, Kirk and the remaining two security guards watched as this happened. Noticing the strange looks, Spock said

"Is there something the matter Captain ? It sounded as though Sergeant Hooker's explanation would take some time and so logically this was the most comfortable option."

"I'm speechless Spock" was all Kirk had time to say when he was interrupted once again by his communicator. He looked at Hooker who motioned at him "Don't worry, I understand, the story can wait. Go ahead Jim, answer your call"

Kirk flipped the communicator cover "Kirk here, what is it Scotty ?"

"Captain...", came the familiar accented voice in reply, "I'm afraid I have some bad news..."


	7. Chapter 7

"Go ahead Mr Scott" said Kirk to his chief engineer.

"Well captain, it's the entity... The gap seems to be disappearing quicker than we first calculated"

"How long have we got Scotty?"

"Well sir, its starting to move away and Mr Sulu estimates there's no more than ten minutes left before it closes for good. We need to beam you back immediately"

"Understood, Scotty. Stand by"

Kirk looked at his men and then spoke to Hooker and Romano. "We have... a way... to get you and all of your people here out of harms way. But we need to move now".

Hooker didn't hesitate "Jim, I can't do that, Officer Sheridan...Stacey...she's still out there somewhere. She's our friend and she could be in trouble. No way can we leave any of our people behind...you have no idea what's happening here"

Kirk had guessed that this would be the answer, for the simple reason that it would be precisely how he would have answered in the same situation.

Kirk flipped open his communicator. "Scotty, prepare to beam back everyone but me", He turned to his landing party, "I'm staying here, you should all leave now". Back to the communicator he continued "when the party returns, you're to take the Enterprise back though the hole. That's an order"

After a second or two Scott's voice hesitantly returned, "Preparing to beam the party back Captain...but with all due respect sir, I'm afraid there's no way we're leaving you behind"

Kirk looked at Spock and the others, none of whom had moved. McCoy returned his gaze "same goes for us Jim...we're staying".

Kirk smiled, proud at the loyalty of his men; he still had the communications channel open "disobeying an order Scotty ?..".

"Aye sir, I guess I am"

"Well mister, when I get back up there your fired"

"Aye sir, Scott out" came a slightly relieved voice, clearly catching the humour in Kirk's voice.

Kirk shook his head. "Well Hooker, looks like we're staying...why don't you fill us in on what we're dealing with here...?"


	8. Chapter 8

"Well, where shall I begin ?, I still find it hard to believe this myself...", Hooker looked haunted as he struggled with his thoughts but still he looked Kirk in the eye.

"It only started about a month ago. The first we heard of what was going on was a crazy report on the TV that claimed a woman had got knocked down wandering in the middle of the interstate, then later in the morgue had walked out of the front door after attacking the staff there. The TV reporter showed grainy footage taken by some passer-by showing her walking away down the street, covered in blood"

"No one believed it at first - thought it was a prank" interjected Romano. "It even made the late night talk shows that night, you know, as a humorous piece - people thought as it was so close to Halloween that it was a student prank or something..."

Hooker nodded and ran his hand through his hair.

"Juniors right" he continued, "the next thing we knew all the off duty cops were being called in - turns out there were more and more similar cases being reported. Within days first the FBI and then then National Guard were brought in - as the death toll got larger, the panic spread. You'd be surprised how quickly normal life breaks down. Looting, petty crime - it all quickly got out of hand."

His voice waivering, Hooker paused to compose himself "then there was the grim reality - how do you deal with a problem that multiplies itself just by being bitten; thats how this thing spreads...get bitten by those...zombies, in a couple of minutes you get back up and join them.", Hooker was now animated - Romano saw the older policeman becoming angry so he took up the story "we've found the only way to drop them is by going for the head, that is until we've seen your fancy ray guns!", he managed a quick smirk, but the average person...even here in LA had no idea how to deal with a threat that by that time was literally on every corner...the more people that fled, the more people were out on the streets, the more people got infected."

McCoy spoke up "my God, something like that...that would spread like wildfire!"

Hooker nodded, "It did doctor...It only took just over a week. By then there were reports coming in that the 'diseased' - that's what the authorities called them - were spreading outwards to the rest of the country" Hooker stopped again and thought, asking Kirk a question "Have you been anywhere else, since your accident brought you here?"

Kirk shook his head "we picked up some radio transmissions though, about 'the undead'"

Hooker nodded "ah yes, those are the automated emergency messages - broadcast on all working frequencies, on constant loops; you know the type of thing...stay inside, lock your doors, help will come. They've replaced regular reporting. We've had no news about what has been going on now for two weeks."

"So, how did you come to be here?" Kirk asked, motioning around them.

"Well, the force was pretty much becoming non existent, with deaths and no shows. That was ten days ago - some of us couldn't just do nothing; people were losing hope...Romano, Stacey and myself decided not to leave. To try and gather all the survivors we could, and hopefully ride it out until the military arrived...at least if it arrives at all. We've been here in the mall a week now, but this place is hard to defend, too many openings. We constantly have to go around checking the doors...there are thousands of those things outside and they somehow seem to sense we are here; the sheer weight of numbers makes barricades hard to maintain. We've already started running out of supplies too, that's where Stacey is - gathering food from the outlying buildings. The three of us, we're the only people here who are used to taking control, and we are just winging it..."

Before the two policeman could continue York ran up holding a walkie talkie "Hooker! Romano! We've managed to get Sherridan - the line is pretty bad though, she's cutting in and out!"

Hooker took the radio "Stacey report, you and your team are overdue"

"H...lp...Hooker...can't hol...ut" came the muffled reply, filled with static.

"Stacey?" Hooker shouted into radio, but there was no answer.


	9. Chapter 9

"Come on, we've got to find better reception" Hooker said to the group.

They quickly made their way through the EZ-Mart, past the weary survivors and the barren shelves, and out into the deserted mall. They moved down an avenue towards the front of the mall, with each step they could here an incessant banging getting louder. With Romano leading the way, followed by Hooker then York, they ran up the stationary escalator stairs towards a large glass windowed area that ran from the upper floor to the ceiling. As Hooker was trying to get an answer on the radio the remaining five members of the Enterprise crew surveyed the unbelievable scene. Outside there were hundreds of shambling bodies, those furthest away walking seemingly without purpose through a place that used to be a car park, past abandoned cars and overturned trolleys. Those closer were scrambling to gain entry to the nearby blocked entrance.

"It's getting worse out there", York said to the shocked men.

It was starting to get dark and Spock, who had been silent for some time simply said one word whilst looking out at the lights coming from a distant building... "Fascinating".

The radio static broke "Hooker? Hooker...are you there?... We are trapped in the service building near zone A. There's only two of us left...". The voice stopped, and the sounds of crashing could clearly be heard.

"Stacey report!", Hooker implored.

"They are coming through Hooker...I don't know how long we can hold them back...I'm sorry..."

"Hold on Stacey...Hold On!" shouted Hooker, but the radio was now silent.

The silence was broken with the chime of the communicator; Kirk opened it quickly, "What is it Scotty?"

"More bad news news I'm afraid captain", the Enterprise's chief engineer sounded worried.

"No time for that Scotty it'll have to wait, we've got trouble here... prepare to beam us up"

"That's just it Captain...I can't. The transporters are off line; the power keeps fluctuating. That beasty did more damage than I thought"

"Scotty...Scotty...", Kirk said with despair, "stand by. Keep working on it Mr. Scott we are counting on you. Kirk out"

When Kirk looked back at the group, Spock spoke "Captain, it may be possible..." but the sentence was broken by screams coming from the direction of the EZ-Mart; they all turned to look. A woman frantically appeared at the top of the escalator looking behind her. She was all alone.

The group ran forward to meet her.

"They are here", she managed to say, "they got in somehow, they're everywhere downstairs...they got just about everyone...we're trapped up here...", the woman started to cry; Kirk catching her as her legs buckled. She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, "There's no way out...do you understand ? We're all dead!..."


End file.
